The [Dutch government] compels [the Javanese farmer] to cultivate certain products on his land; it punishes him if he sells what he has produced to any purchaser but itself; and it fixes the price actually paid. The expenses of transport to Europe through a privileged trading company are high; the money paid to the chiefs for encouragement increases the prime cost; and because the entire trade must produce profit, that profit cannot be got in any other way than by paying the Javanese just enough to keep him from starving, which would lessen the producing power of the nation.
From Harry J. Benda and John A. Larkin, eds.,
The World of Southeast Asia: Selected Historical Readings, 1967.
How does the Dutch government treat Javanese farmers?
Group of answer choices
with respect for their hard labor
with dignity
as a valuable asset to both the Javanese and Dutch people
as a group whose labor can and should be controlled
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